Porsche Gets a Green Thumb

2012 Porsche Panamera Diesel

This is the new Porsche Panamera. Doesn't look any different from the other models, does it? It still has that same ugly stance and 911-based design that makes it look utterly hideous. But, at least it gets good mileage, because what you're looking at here is the new Panamera Diesel. That's right! Porsche has just now unveiled their newest green machine. Under the hood is a 3.0-liter 250 horsepower V6 Turbodiesel engine with 405 lb.-ft. of torque projecting the car from 0 to 60 in 6.8 seconds to a top speed of 150 MPH. Now, that does seem quick, but thanks to a decently powerful engine and clever engineering, Porsche say that this car will do 37.3 MPG. That's near close to what you get in a Prius, and that's 10x uglier than this car! Not to mention it produces 167 CO2s per kilometer. To put in perspective, the Jaguar XFR produces 292 CO2s per kilometer which makes it much greener than any sports car comparable. If the Panamera only produces 167, that means it is genuinely doing less damage to the environment than the Nickel-ion batteries in all of Toyota's hybrids. I don't know about you, but that's astounding. Prices start at £62,134, which is $104,000 over here due to currency conversion, but Porsche haven't announced yet if it will come over here. It would be good if it did though, despite it's ugliness. 

Black Betty

2012 VW Beetle

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the all-new 2012 VW Beetle. All those Oprah fans who received a key to one last year, well done. This car looks much better than the horrid trash created years ago, and even before that. What's strange is that VW say the design of this car was based on the original ugly Beetle. I do see some of that, but more of that awesome Ragster Concept a couple years back with the longer roof line and the aggressive windshield. Anyway, on to the car now. It's longer and wider than the old trash they've created. It features some Golf and Scirocco stylings so it is best believed that the car may be using a Golf chassis. There are new headlights with LED Daytime running lamps. Around the back, you'll see that this car has definitely gone through a serious makeover as it features new taillamps, a new spoiler, and an aggressive pair of exhausts, one on each side of the bumper.

Rear View

Inside, you'll find seating for four and some new amenities such as leather seats, navigation, an adaptive stereo system; they've even put in some carbon fiber on the dash for some models to make it a bit more aggressive. Not to mention, I'm delighted to say that they've removed the ugly flower that was standard on that last old trash that they had. No one needed that thing. Even men who bought one felt unmanly with that ugly flower on the steering wheel. Anyway, as far as power goes, VW has promised four engines for the Beetle, with three of them possibly coming over here. First, there's a 1.2-liter 104 horsepower inline-4 engine. Moving on up, there's the 1.4-liter 148 horsepower i-4 engine, the 1.6-liter 104 horsepower Blue Motion turbodiesel engine, and, you'll be excited to here, a 2.0-liter 200 horsepower turbo-4 engine like in the Golf GTI. All engines will be mated with either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed DSG transmission. The spoiler comes only with the TSI models (147 horsepower - 200 horsepower). Prices have not been announced yet, but soon will be as this car is set arrive here this fall. But, before it does, you'll be able to see it in person at the Shanghai Motor Show and New York International Auto Show this week, so I'll have some live pictures of this car for you this weekend.

Green Rover

2012 Land Rover Range_E Plug-In Hybrid

Land Rover has always been famous for producing gas-guzzling 4x4s, like the Range Rover. However, recently they've improved on fuel. The new Range Rover Sport has a re-worked V8 engine that produces less Carbon Dioxides than a standard V8. They've even introduced the Evoque, the first ever Range Rover with a fuel efficient turbo-4 engine. And now, unveiled at Geneva, we have this, the first Plug-In Hybrid Range Rover. They call it the Range_E and Land Rover does plan on putting this car into production. Right now, they're still testing it, but it seems that the tests are going well. Under the hood of this hybrid is a 3.0-liter 242 horsepower Turbodiesel V6 engine combined with a 69 kW, 93 horsepower electric motor. Altogether, that's 334 horsepower of diesel and electric power being sent to all four wheels. Unlike most hybrids with their CVTs (Continuously Various Transmission), the Range_E has an all new 8-speed ZF Automatic gearbox while the electric motor is fueled by a 14.2 kWh lithium-ion battery. With the diesel tank full and motor fully charged, you should be doing over 710 miles on one tank and one charge. That's very fuel efficient, seeing that my Range Rover can do only 300 miles on one tank of fuel. I hope this car works for Land Rover. It will change the way people think of the Range Rover.

Style and Power do Mix

2012 Brabus CLS

Brabus finally got their hands on the sleek and stylish Mercedes-Benz CLS-class. As you can see, even when implying science and power, Brabus still make their silver arrows look nice, and this is no exception. Brabus will treat your CLS well with a new bodykit featuring new LED Daytime Running Lights, custom 20-inch rims, and eloquent leather interior stitching. Now, as for power, this is where Brabus excels. If you live in Europe and have the CLS250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY, Brabus will add their ECO PowerXtra D4 Performance kit adding 31 horsepower to the engine, which will also increase torque to 413 lb.-ft. If you have the CLS350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY, Brabuswill add their ECO PowerXtra DS6 plug-and-play auxiliary control unit, which can be installed in less than 45 minutes. This will increase power in sport mode from 261 to 313horsepower and torque from 457 to 509 lb.-ft. 0 to 60 will be achieved in just 5.9 seconds on its way to a limited top speed of 155 MPH. So, with this car, you'll be able to look good, go fast, and save gas. That should be good. Check this car out at Genevanext week.